What will it take to break me?
by ThroughAMirrorDarkly
Summary: A drabble based on a prompt about the twins, Ethan and Aiden, and what finally brings Aiden to leave Beacon Hills and his brother behind.
1. Chapter 1

He'd known for a while now that Ethan wanted to stay and hell, he couldn't blame him. Beacon Hills was by far, the nicest, friendliest, most "home-like" place they'd ever spent time in. None of that seemed to matter though. They'd saved Stiles from the Nogitsune, but the entire pack had taken a beating. They were all physically, mentally, and emotionally drained. Tensions were running high, and tempers were short.

They'd saved Stiles, but the costs were high. Punches were thrown, words where hurled at each other, words that couldn't be taken back, trust was irreparably damaged.

Things in particular, had come to a head between the twins. Ethan had been more accepted by the pack in general, and it didn't seem to matter what Aiden did. It didn't matter that they'd been attacked, shot at, injured while trying to save Stiles, well, it mattered that Ethan had, but nobody else had bothered to see if he was alright.

Ethan spent most of his time with Danny and pack already, and Aiden could feel that he didn't fit in, no matter how much he wanted to, he never would. Then came the day that Ethan was offered a place in Scott's pack, an official place as a beta. Ethan had been so caught up in the excitement of the news, that he'd failed to notice Aiden quietly get up and walk out of the room.

So, it'd come to this, without being accepted into the pack, he'd always be seen as a threat, someone to be on guard around. His presence would only serve as a reminder to his brother of their past. Ethan was moving on, he'd found his mate in Danny, and was finally happy. All Aiden could think of, were the words that Ethan spoke to him at school that one day. It didn't matter if the Nogitsune had any influence or not, because he already knew the truth, even before Ethan spoke it.

_"I'd already be a part of Scott's pack if it wasn't for my psychotic brother."_ Those words were etched in his memory, burned into his mind, every waking moment since that day, he could see it in his brother's eyes, even if Ethan didn't admit it, or tried to say that he didn't mean it. It was hard to fool someone who already knew the truth.

A week after Ethan joined the pack, Aiden couldn't take it any more. He knew when he wasn't wanted, even if nobody would come right out and say it. He'd seen the pain in Ethan's eyes when they glanced at him, so his mind was made up. It was time to leave.

He waited until Ethan was asleep, it would be easier that way, he'd written a note, a brief one, it didn't say much, after all, what more was there to say? It'd been short and to the point, even if a little rough, it was a half of piece of paper, the other half, he'd torn off and stuffed in his back pocket.  
******  
Ethan,  
I'll be long gone by the time you find this note. Just know, that I only wanted the best for you. I can see now that you'll be happiest here, with the pack. I know it won't mean much anymore, I wish I'd done things differently, but this is for the best.**

**I hope you and Danny have a happy life, you both deserve the happiness that you bring each other. I'm sorry I couldn't be better, that I couldn't be the brother you deserved.**

**I love you Ethie, and I'll never stop loving you, but it's time for me to stop holding you back. So this is it, this is goodbye. I left the key under the mat, so you don't have to worry about making a new one.**

**I love you.**

**-Aiden**

It didn't take long to gather his things, he didn't have many, and after leaving the note on the kitchen table, he was gone. He'd locked the door and left the key under the mat, not even noticing the piece of torn paper that fluttered out of his pocket, landing on the mat, and with a sigh, he got on his bike, started it up, and made his way out of town.

When Ethan woke up the next day, found the note and rushed outside, a torn piece of paper caught his eye, the piece of paper that matched exactly, the half sheet Aiden's note was on. He couldn't stop himself, he had to read it. The words were half blurred with tears, but once he started reading, he couldn't stop.

_..It's funny, all that time, back in our old pack, no matter what they did, they never could break me. No matter how hard they tried, no matter what they did, they could never take away my fire. They never realized that there was one thing and one thing only that kept me going, they never realized that you were the only thing that kept me from breaking, from giving in, from killing myself._

_They never realized what it would take to break me._

_******What will it take to break me?** You. Ethie, you were the only thing that kept me going for all those years. But they never realized the truth, the only person that could break me, was you. Well, congratulations, you broke me, and this time, there's no going back._

_I can't do it anymore, I love you too much to make you choose, and I don't have the strength to get back up when you choose him instead of me. I can't. So, maybe this is me saving you the trouble of even having to choose, I can't pretend that I mean more to you than Danny does. He's your mate, and you've been pulling away ever since we first came to this town. And I get it, I really do, which is why I don't hold it against you, I never would._

_I'm sorry for all the times I couldn't protect you, but especially all the times I couldn't protect you from myself. There are no words for how much I wish I could take it all back, how much I wish I could have taken all the beatings, the abuse for you. I'm glad you'll never know about the ones I took for you. Our pack could never tell us apart, and I took as many as I could for you. I just, it wasn't enough, I wasn't enough._

_I'm sorry Ethie, I'm so fucking sorry. I fucked things up so badly, and you were right to pull away. You were always right. I'm messed up, and I'm beyond fixing. I just hope, one day, you can remember the good times we did have, even if they were few and far between. I'll never ever stop loving you. And if there was any other way to make you happy, I'd do it in a heartbeat, but I think this is the only way._

_I doubt you'll ever see me again, but just know, I'll always be watching, making sure you're okay. I'll always try to protect you, even if it has to be from a distance. I know we always used to say our little motto, "brothers, twins, together, forever and always." But everything must come to an end, and this time, you'll be better off for it._

_I love you Ethie. Never forget that._

_-Aiden_

A solitary tear slid down Ethan's face as he read the note he was never meant to find, but it was too late. Aiden was long gone.


	2. Chapter 2

He was panicking, he couldn't breathe, Aiden, his Aidie was gone. The paper dropped from Ethan's hands as he stood there, in shock. Nothing was right, it wasn't supposed to happen like this. They were supposed to stay together, to be happy. Ethan had Danny, and he thought Aiden had Lydia, he hadn't even thought...he thought Aiden was happy. _Just what had he been missing all this time?_

His breath came in gasps, _no, just no, this wasn't, this couldn't be happening. Aiden wouldn't, no, he promised, we promised each other. _His mind kept spinning things over and over, he dropped to the floor, in shock. He didn't even notice Danny walking up behind him, "Babe? Ethan?" Danny rushed over, dropped to his knees, wrapped his arms around his mate and pulled him close.

"Ethan, talk to me babe, what is it? What's wrong?"

"Aidie, Aidie, Aidie...A-Aidie." The words were punctuated by loud sobs, sounds that Ethan never realize he was making.

"Shh...it's okay, Ethan, babe, what about Aiden? What's wrong?"

Danny looked down and saw the scrap of paper on the ground, picked it up and quickly read it, then glanced down at Ethan.

"Eth, I'm so sorry, I'm sorry babe. W-We can look for him, we'll get the rest of the pack, we'll find him, okay?" He didn't know if that was true or not, but anything was better than seeing his boyfriend, his _mate_, so completely torn up and hurt. He'd do anything for Ethan, and hell, the rest of the pack had actually grown rather fond of Ethan, it shouldn't be that hard to ask them for help.

"Come on, let's get you up, I'll call Scott and see what we can do, okay?" He gently pulled Ethan up and helped him over to the couch, set him down, then quickly ran and came back with a blanket which he carefully wrapped Ethan in. "Just rest, I'll be right back, okay?"

He pulled his phone out, quickly dialing up Scott and explaining the situation, then hurried back over to Ethan on the couch. "Hey Eth, Scott said he'd take the pack out to look for Aiden, see if they can catch his scent, okay? They're gonna do whatever they can to find him."

Ethan just nodded distractedly, and leaned his head on Danny's shoulder, trying to hide the tears streaming down his face. They had to find Aiden, they had to, especially before anything happened to him. Ethan knew what was out there, what they'd escaped, and he knew that Aiden was vulnerable to their enemies now that he was packless and all alone. It was his fault for not noticing anything was wrong, he could have prevented this, if only he'd torn his eyes away from Danny for one minute to actually look at his twin. He had to help, had to find his brother, before it was too late.

Ethan lifted his head and looked up at Danny, "We have to help, we have to find him, please babe, we have to." His mate nodded, "We'll meet up with the others, we'll find him Eth."

**2 Months later**

There'd been no trace of Aiden until now, and even then, it'd taken them by complete surprise. Two whole months apart, Ethan was a mess, he'd barely slept, and in spite of Danny's best efforts, he'd only eaten enough to keep going. The stress had worn him down, but he kept going as best as he could. He _had_ to find his brother, if it was the last thing he did, Aiden would come home.

Their first break came when Ethan collapsed one day from pain. It wasn't his, it was Aiden's. It was good, and bad all at the same time. It would help them find him, but Ethan knew how much pain Aiden must be in to let the connection slip back open, enough pain to not be able to protect his twin from feeling it.

Time was running out, they had to find him. **Now**.


	3. Chapter 3

Aiden groaned softly and curled up on himself, he'd lost track of time. Days, weeks, months, it didn't even matter anymore, it'd all be over soon enough. They'd caught up with him a week after he left Ethan, and from there, it'd been a painful and exhausting blur of days. He always thought it'd be old enemies that caught him, but who knew there were rogue hunters in the area? He hadn't been expecting it, he'd gotten careless, or maybe he just didn't care anymore.

The cement floor felt like a pillow after everything he'd been through. It was his safe time, when they were done with him, they'd throw him back in for the night, leaving him there to his nightmares. The one constant thought on his mind was his absolute relief that Ethan wasn't here. No matter what happened to him, as long as he didn't talk, didn't open his connection to his brother. He couldn't, Ethan could never know, it was the least he could to keep his brother safe, even if was the absolute last thing he ever did.

Something changed today though, maybe they finally got tired of just hearing his screams of pain, and his refusal to tell them anything. He was just an omega after all, nobody would miss him. Ethan, Danny, Scott, they'd never know, but he was okay with that. He just had to stay strong a little longer, before it reached the point where he wasn't healing at all, and from then, it'd only be a few days more, all in all, maybe a week of this left. He could do it.

They didn't stop, even when he eventually passed out, they kept waking him up, using a higher and higher voltage. Soon, he couldn't help the screams that came from his throat, then, he couldn't even scream anymore. His voice was gone, and so were the barriers that he'd tried to hard to hold onto. The connection was forced open with a burst of excruciating pain. He hung limply by his hands from the chains they'd put him in, his eyes closed, his body jerking and shaking with the continued current running through his veins.

He wasn't even conscious when they finally took him down, carelessly tossing his limp body into his cell, not even bothering to put fresh food and water in with him before they locked it. He'd outlived his usefulness to them, there was no point in doing anything more to keep him alive. They simply left him there in the basement of an abandoned house, choosing to let time do their dirty work for them.

Ethan woke up in Danny's arms, surrounded by the pack. "What happened Eth?" Danny's voice was soft but concerned, "Babe, what is it?"

"A-aidie, h-he's..." His voice broke and he choked back tears as he looked over at the pack, "h-he's in so m-much pain right now. W-we have to find him, p-please...I-I don't know how much longer he can t-take it."

Scott took the lead, trying to get Ethan to calm down, "Ethan, just look at me, okay? Just take a deep breath, you need to tell me anything you know, anything you now about where he might be. Anything that can help us track him down, okay?"

Ethan nodded, and took a shaky breath, trying to calm down. "H-He's all alone, I-I don't even know if h-he's conscious, b-but, he's not, h-he doesn't seem like he's really far away. I-I think he's still near Beacon Hills."

The pack looked around at each other, then Scott nodded, "We'll start checking around nearby towns, and we'll each have something with his scent, something to help us find him. Teams of two, we'll call each other if we find anything, okay?"

They packed supplies quickly, and headed out, hoping they would be able to find Aiden before it was too late. It took them a few days of searching, but eventually, they came across an abandoned house, one that smelled like blood, sweat, terror, hopelessness. They could feel their wolves straining to surface, they raced inside, checking all the rooms, until they found the one to the basement.

Ethan pushed ahead of them and raced down the stairs, letting out a strangled cry as he laid eyes on his brother for the first time in months. "A-Aidie, aidie, Aidie! No no no no no, please, no, Aiden, please, y-you have to be okay." He threw himself against the door, finally breaking the slightly rusty hinges. He all but collapsed next to his brother, pulling his limp body close, cradling Aiden in his arms.

"P-please, Aidie, y-you have to wake up, y-you h-ave to. P-please."

The rest of the pack joined them, reflexively gagging at the sight and smell. Scott was the first to recover, "We need to get him to Deaton, he'll know how to help."

As they moved to help pick Aiden up, the injured wolf started whimpering brokenly, "I-I won't tel y-you anythin' about t-them, I-I won't...y-you can't make m-me..." Their hearts sank at the words, it was worse than they'd thought. "We need to leave, now, help me carry him out to the car."

They lifted Aiden as gently as they could, but he still moaned in pain, then went silent, as he passed out again. The ride over to Deaton's was tense, everyone had their eyes on Aiden, wincing as he groaned whenever they went over a bump. Scott called ahead to let the vet know they were coming, and as soon as they pulled up, Deaton came outside and helped them carry Aiden in, then started him on an iv, and carefully started cleaning him up.

It was over an hour later when Deaton finally finished, and gently draped a blanket over Aiden's still form. Ethan looked up at Deaton, "W-will he be okay? D-doc?" He was nervously playing with his shaking hands, "P-please say he'll be okay."

Deaton sighed, "It's hard to say, his injuries were severe, we'll have to wait and see if his healing kicks in. Until then, all we can do is watch and wait, and hope." He walked over to a cabinet and pulled out another blanket and gently wrapped it around Ethan's shoulders. "You should try to get some rest, he'll need you to be strong when he wakes up."

Ethan tried to protest, but his yawns gave him away, "How about this, I'll pull up another table, it won't be very comfortable, but you can sleep next to him, does that sound okay?" After a sleepy nod, Deaton efficiently set up another exam table and used another blanket to make a pillow, then helped Ethan up onto it. "Just rest now," he tucked the blanket around Ethan's form, "Aiden will need you well rested when he wakes up." Ethan's hand slowly moved and gently held Aiden's limp hand, then his eyes fluttered closed, and he was asleep.

Deaton quietly started cleaning up his supplies and the room, sighing as he glanced over at the sleeping brothers. It might be a while before Aiden woke up, but he didn't lie, Aiden would need his brother's strength to get through things, when he woke up.

_If he woke up._


	4. Chapter 4

Two days, it took two days before Aiden showed signs of waking up and Ethan was beside himself with worry. He hadn't left his twin's side since they found him. The rest of the pack took turns staying with them and bringing Ethan food.

When Aiden finally woke up, it wasn't a slow return to reality. He came awake with a startled, hoarse cry, and scrabbled backwards, falling off the exam table and onto the floor. Ethan's eyes widened and he rushed to Aiden's side. "Aidie, Aidie, it's okay, you're safe." His twin flinched away from the sudden movement, his arms coming up to shield his head, and scooted back until he was in the corner of the room, curled up and shaking, bracing himself as if for the inevitable blows of a fist. "I-I won't t-tell you anything 'bout the p-pack. I-I won't." It never mattered what they did to him, he wouldn't say anything.

Ethan's heard clenched in his chest. If he'd heard that correctly, Aiden had been tortured for protecting them, protecting the pack he didn't think he was a part of. His eyes filled with tears and he sat down, with his back resting against some cabinets. It was close enough to Aiden to let him know he wasn't alone, but enough distance so his brother wouldn't feel threatened.

He started talking about anything and everything he could think of, anything to calm his twin down. "So...I got a B+ on my last math test, I know I said I didn't want to take math, or even come back to school, but you were right. It's not as bad as I thought it would be, and I really like it after all." He'd talked non-stop for an hour before Aiden finally stopped shaking.

"A-am I-I dead?" The words were barely a whisper, Aiden's vocal chords still hadn't healed fully yet. The words took Ethan by surprise and he looked up to see Aiden looking at him, "No, no, you're not dead Aidie, you're safe, you're at Deaton's, you're safe." He could see his twin trying to process the words, and his heart sank when Aiden started talking again. "P-pack didn't want m-me...must be d-dead...can't be h-here."

Ethan's heart broke at those words, _did Aiden really think they wouldn't come find him? Had they broken his trust that much? _He looked up at the broken whimper coming from Aiden, and he slowly scooted over and gently wrapped his arms around his brother.

"Shhhh, Aidie, I've got you, you're safe. I won't let them hurt you again. I promise." He slowly started rocking Aiden back and forth. "I'm so sorry I didn't see what was happening. I got so caught up with everything, I should have made sure you were doing okay. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Aidie."

A tear slipped down Aiden's face, and soon he was clinging to Ethan, sobbing brokenly, he was finally safe, in Ethan's arms. His twin held him close, gently rubbing his back, "Shhh...it's okay Aidie, let it go, just let it go." He honestly couldn't tell you how long they sat there, but eventually, Aiden calmed down, and fell asleep on him.

Danny and Scott came over to bring a fresh change of clothes and food, but they paused when they saw the twins in the corner. Danny set down the clothes, "How is he?" Scott followed up, setting the food down, "Did he say anything about who did this to him?" Ethan just shook his head, "He was scared when he woke up, terrified, he kept saying that he wouldn't tell them anything about the pack."

He sighed, continuing to gently rub Aiden's back, "He thought he was dead, because I was actually here. My guess would be that it was hunters of some sort, because the enemies we've made would have used...much different methods of persuasion."

Scott nodded, "I'll talk to the Argent's, see if they've heard or know anything about other hunters in the area." They glanced over at Danny, who was pulled some blankets out and draped them over Ethan, letting him adjust them over Aiden. "Is there anything else I can get for you babe?" Ethan just shook his head, "I think we'll be okay, but maybe, if you can ask Deaton if he thinks it'll be okay to move Aiden back to our house? It'll be more comfortable for him."

Danny smiled and leaned down to kiss his mate, "Alright, love you Eth, and I'll be right back." He headed out to find Deaton and left Scott there with Ethan and Aiden. "So, someone was trying to get information about us?" Ethan nodded to Scott, "That's what it sounded like." Scott just shook his head, "He can't be on his own anymore, this is my fault. If I'd just brought him into the pack, none of this would have happened."

Ethan was about to reply, but his attention was diverted by Aiden starting to move restlessly in his sleep. "Shh, Aidie, you're safe, it's okay, I've got you." He stroked his brother's hair gently, letting him know he wasn't alone, and that he was safe. Once Aiden settled down again, Ethan looked up Scott. "It's not your fault, if anything, it's mine. I didn't notice anything was wrong. He's my brother, my twin, I should have known, I should have seen it."

They each stayed silent, not willing to give up the blame. The silence was only broken when Danny came back in, "I talked to with Deaton and he said Aiden should be okay to more. We can take him home now if you like." Ethan looked down at his sleeping brother, then nodded, "He's exhausted, but he'll sleep better in an actual bed."

Danny and Scott quietly gathered up their things and put them in the car, then gently helped carry Aiden to the car. Ethan got in first, and they laid Aiden in the back, his head pillowed on Ethan's lap. Then they drove off, hoping they could get him home before he woke up.


End file.
